Freedom in the World 2023 - Singapore

PARTLY FREE
47
/ 100
Political Rights 19 / 40
Civil Liberties 28 / 60
LAST YEAR'S SCORE & STATUS
47 / 100 Partly Free
Global freedom statuses are calculated on a weighted scale. See the methodology.
 
 
 

Overview

Singapore’s parliamentary political system has been dominated by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the family of current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong since 1959. The electoral and legal framework that the PAP has constructed allows for some political pluralism, but it constrains the growth of opposition parties and limits freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.

Key Developments in 2022

  • In November, the parliament voted to repeal a decades-old law criminalizing same-sex sexual relations. However, lawmakers also separately voted to amend the constitution to prevent any legal challenge to the current definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
  • In July, Malaysian lawyer Zaid Malek traveled to Singapore to assist Malaysian death-row inmate Kalwant Singh; Malek was detained and interrogated by the police for approximately eight hours. He claimed to have experienced harassment and intimidation at the hands of the authorities, as well as a warning to not leave the country.

Political Rights

A Electoral Process

A1 0-4 pts
Was the current head of government or other chief national authority elected through free and fair elections? 1 / 4

The government is led by a prime minister and cabinet formed by the party that controls Parliament. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the PAP has been in power since 2004. While polling-day procedures are generally free of irregularities, numerous structural factors that favor the PAP impede viable electoral competition.

The president, whose role is largely ceremonial, is elected by popular vote for six-year terms, and a special committee is empowered to vet candidates. None of Singapore’s three main ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, and Indians or others) may be excluded from the presidency for more than five consecutive terms, and presidential candidates from the private sector, as opposed to senior officials with at least three years of service, must have experience leading a company with at least S$500 million (US$359 million) in shareholder equity. PAP-backed Halimah Yacob was the only eligible candidate in the 2017 presidential election, making her the winner by default.

A2 0-4 pts
Were the current national legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections? 2 / 4

Following a March 2020 recommendation by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), the number of directly elected seats in the unicameral Parliament was increased from 89 to 93. The Parliament elected that July consequently included 14 members from single-member constituencies and 79 members from Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). The top-polling party in each GRC wins all of its four to five seats, which has historically bolstered the PAP’s majority. As many as nine additional, nonpartisan members can be appointed by the president, and a maximum of another 12 can come from a national compensatory list meant to ensure a minimum of opposition representation. Members serve five-year terms, with the exception of appointed members, who serve for two and a half years.

In the 2020 elections, the PAP secured 61.2 percent of the popular vote and 83 of the 93 directly elected seats. The largest opposition group, the Workers’ Party, won 10 seats and received 2 compensatory seats to achieve the minimum of 12 for the opposition.

Elections are largely free of fraud or other irregularities but are unfair due to the advantages enjoyed by the PAP, including a progovernment media sector, the GRC system, high financial barriers to electoral candidacy, and legal restrictions on free speech.

A3 0-4 pts
Are the electoral laws and framework fair, and are they implemented impartially by the relevant election management bodies? 1 / 4

Singapore lacks an independent election commission; the country’s Elections Department (ELD) is a government body attached to the Prime Minister’s Office. The secretary to the prime minister is the head of the EBRC, which reviews and redraws constituency boundaries. In the past, the PAP-controlled boundaries process has ensured an advantage for the party. The electoral districts for the 2020 elections were announced in mid-March, just four months before the polls were held. The electoral framework suffers from other flaws—including the GRC system and the onerous eligibility rules for presidential candidates—that favor the PAP-dominated political establishment.

B Political Pluralism and Participation

B1 0-4 pts
Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system free of undue obstacles to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings? 2 / 4

Singapore has a multiparty political system, and 11 parties contested the 2020 parliamentary elections. However, a variety of factors have helped to ensure the PAP’s dominant position, including an electoral framework that favors incumbents, restrictions on political films and television programs, the threat of defamation suits, the PAP’s vastly larger financial resources, and its influence over the mass media and the courts.

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)—which allows any government minister to order correction notices or restrict access to content they deem false or contrary to the public interest—was repeatedly invoked to require corrections regarding comments by opposition candidates during the 2020 campaign period. Separately, the ELD banned large public rallies during that period, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.

B2 0-4 pts
Is there a realistic opportunity for the opposition to increase its support or gain power through elections? 2 / 4

The PAP has governed without interruption since 1959; changes in the country’s leadership can be prompted by shifts within the ruling party. In June 2022, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong was promoted to deputy prime minister, further cementing his standing as Prime Minister Lee’s eventual successor.

The opposition mounts stronger election campaigns than in the past. Opposition factions collectively put forward candidates for all directly elected Parliament seats in 2020, having done so for the first time in 2015, and ultimately gained four.

B3 0-4 pts
Are the people’s political choices free from domination by forces that are external to the political sphere, or by political forces that employ extrapolitical means? 2 / 4

The corporatist structure of the economy creates dense ties between business and political elites that have been criticized as oligarchic in nature. These networks contribute to the PAP’s political dominance.

Many senior government officials formerly served as military officers, and the military has a close relationship with the PAP, but it does not directly engage in politics.

B4 0-4 pts
Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, racial, religious, gender, LGBT+, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoral opportunities? 2 / 4

Ethnic Chinese Singaporeans make up a majority of the population. Members of minority groups, including Malays and people of Indian descent, have full voting rights, but critics—including academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—have questioned whether the GRC system achieves its stated aim of ensuring minority representation. Separately, the rules for presidential candidacy have been criticized for excluding non-Malays from the 2017 election. Malays are generally underrepresented in leadership positions.

Women remain underrepresented in senior government and political positions, though women candidates won 27 of the 93 directly elected parliamentary seats in 2020, up from 21 out of 89 in 2015, and the president who took office in 2017 is a woman. LGBT+ rights interest groups operate and are generally tolerated but have no vocal parliamentary representation. LGBT+ people experience discrimination and thus face barriers to being elected and open about their identity.

C Functioning of Government

C1 0-4 pts
Do the freely elected head of government and national legislative representatives determine the policies of the government? 2 / 4

Elected officials determine the government’s policies, but the PAP’s political and institutional dominance ensures its victory at the polls, and the party leadership maintains discipline among its members. The constitution stipulates that lawmakers lose their seats if they resign or are expelled from the party for which they stood in elections, inhibiting Parliament’s ability to serve as an effective check on the executive.

C2 0-4 pts
Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective? 3 / 4

Singapore has been lauded for its lack of bribery and corruption. However, its corporatist economic structure entails close collaboration between the public and private sectors that may produce conflicts of interest. Lawmakers often serve on the boards of private companies: for example, Ho Ching, Prime Minister Lee’s wife, served as chief executive of Temasek Holdings, a government-linked corporation and sovereign wealth fund, for 17 years. After leaving her position in 2021, Ho joined the board of the Temasek Trust, the corporation’s philanthropic arm.

C3 0-4 pts
Does the government operate with openness and transparency? 2 / 4

The government provides limited transparency on its operations. The Singapore Public Sector Outcomes Review is published every two years and includes metrics on the functioning of the bureaucracy; regular audits of public-sector financial processes are also made accessible to the public. However, other data, including key information on the status of the national reserves, are not made publicly available, and there is no freedom of information law giving citizens the right to obtain government records.

The activities and salary of Ho Ching in her role at Temasek Holdings, and subsequently as a board member of Temasek Trust, have been nontransparent and a point of controversy.

Civil Liberties

D Freedom of Expression and Belief

D1 0-4 pts
Are there free and independent media? 1 / 4

All domestic newspapers, radio stations, and television channels are owned by government-linked companies. Editorials and news coverage generally support state policies, and self-censorship is common, though newspapers occasionally publish critical content. The government uses racial or religious tensions and the threat of terrorism to justify restrictions on freedom of speech. Media outlets, bloggers, and public figures have been subjected to harsh civil and criminal penalties for speech deemed to be seditious, defamatory, or injurious to religious sensitivities. Major online news sites must obtain licenses and respond to regulators’ requests to remove prohibited content. However, foreign media and a growing array of online domestic outlets—including news sites and blogs—are widely consumed and offer alternative views.

The last prominent independent media outlet, The Online Citizen, was forced to close in September 2021 after the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the country’s media regulator, canceled the site’s license over its alleged failure to report on its funding sources. In September 2022, The Online Citizen chief editor Terry Xu relocated to Taiwan and reactivated the outlet’s website and social media accounts, providing commentary and analysis of events throughout Asia without daily news coverage.

Members of independent media face threats of legal lawsuits and criminal charges. For example, Xu was sentenced to three weeks in jail on defamation charges in April 2022 for publishing a 2018 letter by Daniel De Costa Augustin on his site that alleged corruption among government ministers. De Costa was also sentenced to three months in jail for defamation and breaking computer crime law by using another person’s email account without their consent.

D2 0-4 pts
Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or nonbelief in public and private? 3 / 4

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion if its practice does not violate any other regulations, and most groups worship freely. However, religious actions perceived as threats to racial or religious harmony are not tolerated, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church are banned. Religious groups are required to register with the government under the 1966 Societies Act.

Muslim religious teachers must be certified by the Asatizah Recognition Board, a body of religious scholars under the purview of the state’s Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. The system is seen as an effort to ensure that only state-approved forms of Islam are taught. Since August 2021, the government has allowed public sector nurses who are Muslim to wear a headscarf while on duty.

D3 0-4 pts
Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free from extensive political indoctrination? 1 / 4

Public schools include a national education component that has been criticized for presenting a history of Singapore that focuses excessively on the role of the PAP. All public universities and political research institutions have direct government links that enable political influence and interference in hiring and firing; recent faculty turnover at two major universities has increased concerns about political pressure. Self-censorship on Singapore-related topics is common among academics, who can face legal and career consequences for critical speech.

A study by AcademiaSG, a network of Singaporean academics, published in August 2021 found that 16 percent of respondents did not feel free to select their preferred research area. In addition, more female respondents said they were unable to pursue certain projects than their male counterparts.

D4 0-4 pts
Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution? 2 / 4

While there is some space for personal expression and private discussion, legal restrictions on topics that involve race and religion constrain dialogue. The threat of defamation suits and related charges are also deterrents to free speech, including on social media. A 2019 ruling effectively allowed defamation charges for criticism of the government in general.

POFMA provides for criminal penalties including fines and up to a year in prison for failure to comply with removal or correction orders. POFMA has been invoked against opposition figures, activists, and social media users.

Online expression is also affected by FICA, which allows the home affairs minister to remove online content, while ISPs and social media operators can be compelled to provide information on their users. Access to applications can also be restricted under FICA.

E Associational and Organizational Rights

E1 0-4 pts
Is there freedom of assembly? 1 / 4

Public assemblies are subject to extensive restrictions by the 2017 amended Public Order Act (POA). Police permits are required for assemblies that occur outdoors; limited restrictions apply to indoor gatherings. Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park is the designated site for open assembly, though events there can likewise be restricted if they are deemed disruptive. Non-Singaporeans are generally prohibited from participating in or attending public assemblies that are considered political or sensitive.

The Public Order and Safety (Special Powers) Act of 2018 granted the home affairs minister and police enhanced authority in the context of a vaguely defined “serious incident,” which could include scenarios ranging from terrorist attacks to peaceful protests. Officials would be permitted to potentially use lethal force and to halt newsgathering and online communications in the affected area. The special powers could be invoked in advance of a likely or threatened incident.

Authorities punish activists for holding unauthorized events, including even the smallest possible “assemblies.”

E2 0-4 pts
Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations, particularly those that are engaged in human rights– and governance-related work? 1 / 4

The Societies Act requires most organizations of more than 10 people to register with the government; the government enjoys full discretion to register or dissolve such groups. Only registered parties and associations may participate in organized political activity. Despite these restrictions, some NGOs engage in human rights and governance-related work, advocating policy improvements and addressing the interests of constituencies including migrant workers and women. Prominent activists are subject to police questioning, criminal charges, civil lawsuits, and other forms of harassment in reprisal for their work. In July 2022, Malaysian lawyer Zaid Malek traveled to Singapore to assist Malaysian death row inmate Kalwant Singh; Malek was detained and interrogated by the police for approximately eight hours. He claimed to have experienced harassment and intimidation at the hands of the authorities, as well as a warning to not leave the country.

Under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA), organizations that are designated “politically significant” are obligated to disclose foreign funding.

E3 0-4 pts
Is there freedom for trade unions and similar professional or labor organizations? 1 / 4

Unions are granted some rights under the Trade Unions Act, though restrictions include a ban on government employees joining unions. Union members are prohibited from voting on collective agreements negotiated by union representatives and employers. Strikes must be approved by a majority of members, as opposed to the internationally accepted standard of at least 50 percent of the members who vote. Workers in essential services are required to give 14 days’ notice to an employer before striking. In practice, many restrictions are not applied. Nearly all unions are affiliated with the National Trade Union Congress, which is openly allied with the PAP.

F Rule of Law

F1 0-4 pts
Is there an independent judiciary? 1 / 4

The country’s top judges are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The government’s consistent success in court cases that have direct implications for its agenda has cast serious doubt on judicial independence. The problem is particularly evident in defamation cases and lawsuits against government opponents. While judgments against the government are rare, the judiciary is perceived to act more professionally and impartially in business-related cases, which has helped to make the country an attractive venue for investment and commerce.

F2 Does due process prevail in civil and criminal matters? 2 / 4

Defendants in criminal cases enjoy most due process rights; political interference does not occur in a large majority of cases. However, the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA) allows warrantless searches and arrests to preserve national security. ISA detainees can be held without charge or trial for two-year periods that can be renewed indefinitely. In recent years it has primarily been used against suspected Islamist militants. The Criminal Law Act, which is mainly used against suspected members of organized crime groups, similarly allows warrantless arrest and preventive detention for renewable one-year periods. The Misuse of Drugs Act empowers authorities to commit suspected drug users, without trial, to rehabilitation centers for up to three years.

F3 0-4 pts
Is there protection from the illegitimate use of physical force and freedom from war and insurgencies? 2 / 4

Singaporeans are largely protected against the illegitimate use of force and are not directly exposed to war or insurgencies. Prisons generally meet international standards. However, the penal code mandates corporal punishment in the form of caning, in addition to imprisonment, for about 30 offenses, and it can also be used as a disciplinary measure in prisons.

Singapore authorities continues to impose the death penalty for crimes including drug trafficking; 11 people were executed during 2022. Executions had been halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

F4 0-4 pts
Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population? 2 / 4

The law forbids ethnic discrimination, though it persists in private sector or public sector employment. Women enjoy the same legal rights as men on most issues, and many are well-educated professionals, but there is no legal ban on gender-based discrimination in employment. In general, people with disabilities, LGBT+ people, and women experience more workplace discrimination than others. An August 2022 survey by gender equality group AWARE and consumer research company Milleu Insight found that one in two people in Singapore had experienced workplace discrimination; cases involving race were the most common, followed by age and gender.

The LGBT+ community faces significant legal obstacles and discriminatory attitudes. In November 2022, the parliament voted to repeal a decades-old law criminalizing same-sex sexual relations. However, lawmakers also separately voted to amend the constitution to prevent any legal challenge to the current definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

The government has an official position to refuse to grant political asylum or refugee status.

G Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights

G1 0-4 pts
Do individuals enjoy freedom of movement, including the ability to change their place of residence, employment, or education? 2 / 4

Citizens enjoy freedom of movement and the ability to change their place of employment. Policies aimed at fostering ethnic balance in subsidized public housing, in which most Singaporeans live, entail some restrictions on place of residence, but these do not apply to open-market housing.

There are practical limits on freedom of movement for foreign migrant workers, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the government has lifted restrictions for Singaporean citizens, some movement restrictions are still selectively applied on foreign workers.

G2 0-4 pts
Are individuals able to exercise the right to own property and establish private businesses without undue interference from state or nonstate actors? 3 / 4

Individuals face no extensive restrictions on property ownership, though public housing units are technically issued on 99-year leases rather than owned outright. While the state is heavily involved in the economy through its investment funds and other assets, private business activity is generally facilitated by a supportive legal framework.

G3 0-4 pts
Do individuals enjoy personal social freedoms, including choice of marriage partner and size of family, protection from domestic violence, and control over appearance? 3 / 4

Men and women generally have equal rights on personal status matters such as marriage and divorce, though same-sex marriage and civil unions are not recognized. Although the government decriminalized same-sex sexual relations in November 2022, they reiterated opposition to same-sex marriage by amending the constitution to officially define marriage as between a man and a woman. Social pressures deter some interreligious marriages and exert influence on personal appearance. The government allowed public-sector Muslim nurses to wear headscarves in August 2021; President Yacob herself wears a headscarf. Spousal immunity from rape charges was eliminated through a 2019 penal code amendment.

G4 0-4 pts
Do individuals enjoy equality of opportunity and freedom from economic exploitation? 3 / 4

Singapore’s inhabitants generally benefit from considerable economic opportunity, but some workers face disadvantages. The country’s roughly 246,000 household workers (as of 2021) are excluded from the Employment Act and are regularly exploited. Illegal practices such as passport confiscation by employers remain common methods of coercion, and foreign workers are vulnerable to exploitation and debt bondage in the sex trade or industries including construction and manufacturing.